The Predator cuts Edward James Olmos, half an hour from runtime

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After a series of extensive reshoots, Shane Black’s franchise-reviving sequel The Predator has entered into post-production — though not everyone who started with the film survived the cutthroat editing process. One causality was the character played by Battlestar Galactica star Edward James Olmos.

According to /Film, Olmos’ character was removed from the final version entirely — though the actor admits that this will likely make the film stronger in the long run. That’s just the business sometimes. The plot got streamlined and, to keep the pacing tight throughout the runtime, some subplots hit the cutting room floor. That’s what happened to Olmos’ four-star general.

“I’m not in the show though,” Olmos said, “It was too long so my character, they had to take me out. They were like half an hour, 3/4 of an hour too long. So I understand why.” Taking half an hour out of an action movie is never a bad idea, nor is removing a gratuitous military overlord for characters that fans frankly just want to see fight a Predator. The original film clocked in at a brisk 107 minutes while the longest in the series (including the downright speedy Alien vs. Predator films) is Predator 2 at just one minute more — 108 minutes.

That The Predator is wary of length bodes well for its place in a canon that would much rather wow with schlock than drag with slog. And Olmos? He’s a pro. He gets it. “It was gracious of them to call me and tell me, ‘Hey, we really feel bad,’ you know?” the actor said.

There are already so many characters, all suffering from various traumas, that over-stuffing the film was a real possibility. Slimming down the film may not tell us anything rock-solid about its quality, but it certainly makes it feel closer to its franchise brethren than the two-hour-plus behemoths owning the box office right now.